After a promising winter carnival, success eluded Scarlet Oak during the spring, but trainer Chris Waller remains hopeful that the filly can make up for lost time this year.

Scarlet Oak showed her potential with a brilliant win in The Roses (2000m) at just her fourth start, and she was subsequently the favourite for the Queensland Oaks (2200m), but she failed to perform and was eased out of the race.

After failing to beat a single runner home in the Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m), Waller had her undergo some tests, which revealed an issue with her neck.

“She wasn’t lame but we could see she just wasn’t hitting top gear,” Waller explained.

“She didn’t have a sore back so we did a scan and it showed she had a problem in her neck. She has had a lot of physio and she’s had time off.”

“She has trialled like we expected her to trial so she should be back.”

Scarlet Oak, a dual acceptor for Rosehill on Saturday, has been scratched from a benchmark race in favour of the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes (1300m), where she will be joined by stablemates Hinged and Firestorm.

Firestorm has an excellent record fresh, with three wins from four first-up runs, while Hinged is back after claiming an overdue victory in the Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington in the spring.

“She went to the paddock on a winning note and she’ll run a cheeky race,” Waller said about Hinged.

“Firestorm as well, she runs really well fresh and she’s got a good draw.”

Filly Aeliana will represent the stable in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m), where she faces star colt Broadsiding, along with the Eskimo Prince Stakes quinella of Public Attention and Linebacker.

Waller said Aeliana wasn’t ready for last weekend’s Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) and will also skip the Surround Stakes (1400m), with the Randwick Guineas (1600m) next month being a more likely target.

“She had a late spring running in the Guineas, so she was a little behind the fillies that ran last week, and I don’t think she is as sharp as your Lady Shenandoah’s over 1200,” Waller noted.

“But when she gets to a mile, look out.”